


Episode 5: The Sorceress' Apprentice

by oneiriad



Series: Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 Rewrite [5]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Canon Rewrite, Gen, Mick in a viking helmet, The Viking Age, Vikings, Virtual Season/Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 09:04:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12032643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oneiriad/pseuds/oneiriad
Summary: Having lost both loved ones and their pieces of the legendary Spear of Destiny to the speedster Eobard Thawne, the Legends are eager to track him down and bring him to justice. But a massive time aberration forces them to interrupt their search and head some thousand years back in time to a Scandinavia where two legendary Viking kings are about to meet in a battle that might change the world as we know it...(Episode 5 of a full 22-episode rewrite of season 2 - the same broad story arc, but rewritten episodes).





	1. Chapter 1

**Episode 5. - The Sorceress' Apprentice**

_PREVIOUSLY ON LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: Thawne laughing and disappearing with the pieces of the Spear of Destiny, Jax awkwardly attempting to flirt with Kendra, Amaya's arrival on the Waverider, demanding help to track down Rex's murderer at knifepoint, Jax and Betty Seaver on a milkshake date back in the 1950s, Lisa Snart walking aboard the Waverider._

**SCENE** – two armies of Vikings are facing each other across a narrow strip of land, banging axes and swords against their shields and hurling insults at one another. The noise is deafening. As the camera moves, we catch sight of SARA LANCE and MICK RORY in the front row. Mick in particular is banging and shouting with the best of them, looking like a stereotypical viking warrior complete with horned helmet. A couple of rows behind him, a far less enthusiastic looking RAY PALMER is shifting nervously from one foot to another.

At an unseen signal, the two viking armies start moving towards one another, at first at a brisk walk, but picking up speed as they move, roaring at their enemies. The two shield walls slam together...

_INTRO SEQUENCE - narrated by JEFFERSON 'JAX' JACKSON.  
”Time travel is real, and all of history is vulnerable to attack from people like time pirates and evil speedsters, which is why we must travel through time to keep anyone from damaging it. We are a team of outcasts and misfits, and let's be real: sometimes we screw up. So please don't call us heroes. We're something else. We're legends!”_

**SCENE – the Captain's office on the Waverider.**

Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, MARTIN STEIN and AMAYA JIWE are standing around the map table, arguing.

”And I say again, I can't help but feel that the wisest course of action would be to resume our search for our missing Captain Hunter,” Stein says. ”From what you yourself have told us and from what young Mr. Allen shared about his previous dealings with this Reverse-Flash, it appears that he and Captain Hunter share a common history. If anybody can track down this runaway speedster, it must be him!”

”That's all well and good in theory,” Sara argues and by the look on her face it's not the first time she's had to make this point, ”but we've still got no clue where to even begin to look for Rip. As a trained Time Master, he's not exactly going to accidentally cause a time aberration to track him down by, the way the rest of us did.. As your Captain, I say that, until we come across a solid lead on Rip, we are going to focus on chasing down Thawne. But we can't just go haring off into the time stream. We've got no idea where or when Thawne is hiding.”

”That's not good enough,” Amaya states, arms crossed. ”You have all this future technology, you have scientists. Surely you can track him down somehow?”

”It's not like we haven't been trying,” Ray offers. ”But apparently even the Time Masters had no foolproof way of tracking speedsters.”

”Hypothetically, we could try to calibrate the Waverider's sensors to track whatever radiation the pieces of this so-called 'Spear of Destiny' are emitting,” Stein start.

”But that would require us to have a piece of the Spear to calibrate them with,” Ray continues for him.

”Which we don't,” Sara finishes.

”And whose fault is that?” Amaya glares at her, before visibly forcing herself to try to calm down, taking deep, slow breaths. ”Forgive me. That was unworthy of me. It's just – we've been looking for a week and nothing! Rex's murderer is running loose and you're all just standing here....”

Suddenly, a loud claxon starts, drowning any and all attempts at speech. The world tilts as the Waverider takes off on its own and enters the Time Stream, sending everybody tumbling and grasping for support in a scene clearly imitating classic Star Trek, before ending in ungainly heaps on the deck.

Once in the Time Stream, the claxon quits and the Waverider stops shaking.

The four in the Captain's quarters are climbing to their feet, while from other parts of the vessel they are soon joined by Jax and by Mick Rory, supporting a slightly limping LISA SNART, who is somewhat disoriented from the abrupt take-off.

”Gideon, what the hell?” Sara exclaims.

”My apologies, Captain Lance. Standard emergency procedure in the case of time aberrations above a certain level is to seek refuge in the Time Stream without delay in order to minimize the effect on the crew for as long as possible.”

”Wait – what time aberration?” Ray demands, rubbing his arm where he hit it against the map table.

”My sensors detected a significant time aberration during the late Iron Age. As the changes were severe enough that at least two of my current crew members ran a severe risk of becoming time remnants, I acted accordingly.”

”Time remnants? Who? Why?” Stein asks.

”It appears that most of the royal lineages of Europe have ceased to have existed. This includes – among thousands of other individuals – one Oliver Queen, as a distant descendant of the Plantagenet lineage. As Mr. Queen's influence in the lives of Captain Lance and Mr. Palmer has been quite significant, they are particularly at risk in this situation.”

”But – there can't have been that many European royals, can there? How can them disappearing be such a big deal? The US managed fine without a king?” Jax asks.

”While the number of actual Royals have always been a mere fraction of the total population, their significance as political movers and shakers cannot be underestimated during most of the affected time period.”

”Wait – so whatever happened to the Royals is changing time in a big way? How big are we talking, Gideon?”

”I've been scanning the altered timeline and have put together a map of the altered geopolitical situation post-aberration. Would you like to see it?”

”That better be a rhetorical question;” Sara grumbles.

Gideon displays the a map of the world. The landmasses are familiar, but the colours supposed to show the countries of the world have taken very unfamiliar shapes. 

”What the hell happened to America?” Mick exclaims.

”What's the red that's covering half of everything?” Jax wants to know.

”The dark red signifies the Chinese Empire in the Middle, which at this point holds sway over most of Asia, as well as significant parts of Africa, Oceania and North America. The dark blue colour signifies...”

”Question better: kings where go all the did?” Lisa asks, then frowns, looking part annoyed, part mystified.

”Linguistic dysplasia. It's a potential side effect of time travel. It would seem that your family might be predisposed to it,” Stein explains.

Mick snorts, as if momentarily distracted by a funny memory. Lisa glares at him, then punches Mick in the shoulder to get his attention, then gestures towards the rest of the legends.

”Right. Nevermind what the map says – what happened to all the little Anastasias?” Mick asks.

”My current hypothesis is that a keystone figure in one of the pre-medieval lineages has died without issue. I am currently searching contemporary historical documents and comparing them against my database of the original timeline, but it might take some time to – ah. Time aberration located.”

”Great! So where are we going?” Jax asks.

”Late 10th century Scandinavia. I have found a medieval chronicle describing how a Jomsviking with a magical axe in the service of King Harald Bluetooth slew Sweyn the Treacherous during the Battle of Helgenæs.”

”Man, I could use Nate right now. He'd actually know what Gideon's talking about!” Jax comments.

”Nah, Pretty would still have been too busy having conniptions about history being all messy again to have been of any use,” Mick states.

”Gideon: for those of us less familiar with Medieval European history – how is this scenario different from what should have happened?” Stein asks.

”In the original timeline, Sweyn Forkbeard won the battle and would go on to, among other things, be the first -viking king to conquer England, starting the destabilization of the local powers that would eventually play a major part in allowing the Norman conquest and...”

”So – guess we need to make sure Mr. Piggy doesn't bite the dust,” Mick interrupts.

”Yeah,” Sara nods, ”and I think I know how. That bit about a magical axe – does anybody else think that sounds an awful lot like a bit of future tech?”

”Well, any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Ray agrees. ”But whatever a jomsviking is, I doubt it's just going to hand something like that over.”

”Sounds to me,” Lisa says, slowly, then more firmly when she hears her own words fall in the correct order, ”like that might be a job for a thief.”

**CUT TO the Waverider's cargo entrance.**

Amaya and Sara are practice sparring.

Lisa storms aboard, period appropriately dressed in a red dress with a pair of brooches in front.

”No luck?” Sara asks.

”It might have helped if _somebody_ had bothered to mention that the Jomsvikings don't allow women in their medieval frat house! I can't very well steal something I can't get close to!”

”It is a poor operative who blames her lack of success on others,” Amaya comments, raising an eyebrow and earning a furious glare from Lisa.

Sara steps between them before anything happens.

”Well, how about Mick? Surely he could get inside?”

”Yeah,” Mick rumbles, coming up the ramp behind her, dressed like a Viking Age warrior in chainmail and carrying a historically correct and utterly hornless replica of the Gjermundbu helmet under one arm. ”I got in. And I saw the axe – looks like something out of a video game. But the way those guys were all fondling it, I'd have needed one hell of a distraction to get away with it.”

”So – maybe if you took Ray along and tried again?” Sara suggests.

”Sure. Because Ray's such a criminal genius. Besides, those guys are pros – I was watched the entire time I was there. It ain't happening, Blondie.”

”How about intercepting them? I've been studying the maps and they'll need to cover a fair distance to get to where the battle will be;” Amaya suggests.

”No chance,” Lisa states. ”Once those guys are on the move, they'll be suspicious of strangers. Not to mention that they'll be going by boat and good luck just ”happening” to encounter one of those.”

”Guess we'll be going with plan B, then,” Sara sighs.

”Plan B?”

”Simple. We'll just have to be at the battle and make sure that Sweyn doesn't die.”

**CUT TO the Waverider's fabricator room.**

Everybody except Mick and Lisa are there, getting dressed in period appropriate clothing. The historical accuracy of the outfits vary – from Jax's fairly accurate chainmail to Sara's very obviously Lagertha-from-Vikings inspired leather outfit.

”And the finishing touch!” Ray says, taking a horned helmet out of the fabricator and putting it on, grinning. ”How do I look?”

”Dude – you do realize that the Vikings didn't actually wear horned helmets?” Jax asks

”They didn't?” Ray's face falls a bit.

”Nope.”

”And what makes you such an expert on Vikings?”

”I used to babysit my cousin sometimes, and she was mad for those Horrible Histories videos. Knew all sorts of weird facts. Guess that one stuck.”

”Oh,” and Ray takes off the helmet – reluctantly.

Mick and Lisa enters, already appropriately dressed.

”Mick,” Ray smiles widely. ”Would you like to trade helmets? I've got a proper Viking helmet you can have!”

”Sure,” and Mick hands Ray the actually authentic looking Viking helmet he was wearing, accepting the horned one in return.

”Mick, he's cheating you. I just told him the Vikings didn't wear horned helmets!”

”Doesn't matter, Kid,” Mick shrugs and puts on the helmet. ”It'll make me look badass.”

Mick in his full not-quite-historically-correct Viking warrior get-up does indeed look very badass.

”Right – does everybody have what they need?” Sara asks.

”Oh, I almost forgot!” and Ray picks up the small box with his suit that's been sitting on the table. ”Can't very well save a guy from future tech with just swords and axes.”

”That would be inadvisable,” Gideon's voice comments from nowhere and everywhere.

”How so?” Sara frowns.

”Aside from containing several keystone figures like King Sweyn, this time and place is presently in the middle of the historical transition from the old faith to Christianity. As such, it is extremely vulnerable to aberrations in case of any perceived supernatural events.”

”You mean, the way the crusaders thought Mr. Jefferson and I were an angel?”

”Precisely, Professor Stein.”

”Right. So we'll do this mission without special powers. Amaya, Ray – I'll need you to leave the totem and the suit aboard the Waverider. Martin, Jax – no going Firestorm unless you've got absolutely no other choice,” Sara orders in Captain mode.

Amaya bristles. ”The totem stays with me. It's a family heirloom – I am not going to just leave it behind. Besides, I am a professional. I can fight well enough with it.”

”You forget, I've seen you fight,” Sara states. ”I don't know if you've noticed, but your first instinct is always to reach for that necklace. You heard Gideon – we can't risk it. Either you leave the totem aboard the Waverider or we'll have to leave you here.”

Amaya and Ray reluctantly go to the Captain's quarters and put the suit and the totem in the safe there. As they turn to leave, Ray goes: ”I just remembered something. You go ahead. I'll catch up with you!”

Shortly after he rejoins the rest in the fabricator room, carrying a small box.

”What you got there, Haircut?” Mick asks.

”Ingestible translators. For Amaya and Lisa;” Ray answers, opening the box and holding it out to the two women.

”Ingestible what?” Lisa asks.

”Translators,” Amaya answer. ”Sara's spoken of them. They allow you to understand any language once swallowed.” She takes one and does so.

”Cool. I was wondering how Mick had learned to speak Viking. But – hey? Why didn't anybody think I should have one of these before going off to try to steal the axe? It would have been pretty useful, don't you think?”

Sara stops, blinks.

”I'm sorry. I guess we've gotten so used to having them that it didn't occur to any of us.”

”Right. Guess that's what I get for working with amateurs. Anyway – you just swallow it? And what do you do when you're done? Please don't tell me I'm going to have to stick a finger down my throat at some point?”

Everybody suddenly realises that they don't actually know how to get rid of the translators again. After an awkward silence, Gideon answers.

”When the translator ceases to function, it will dissolve and the waste materials will be naturally expelled by way of...”

”Yes, thank you, Gideon, I think we get the general idea,” Stein interrupts.

**CUT SCENE to a beautiful south Scandinavian summer day. The world is green and flat and fairly warm.**

The legends are following a dirt path.

Ray, whose authentic Viking outfit includes a wolf fur around his shoulders, is sweating and grumbling.

”I thought Scandinavia was supposed to be cold and full of, I don’t know, fjords and mountains and whatever.”

”Obviously not this bit,” Sara shrugs. ”Right everybody, I can see the fort from here. Everybody remember the cover story?”

A choir of ”Yes!”, and ”Yeah!” answer her.

The fort rises in front of them – a large, circular, earthen wall with a gate in front, and a couple of armed Vikings up top.

”Who goes there?” one of them shouts.

”Hello?” Sara answers. ”We're travellers on our way home to Iceland from Miklagård.”

”You've gotten a bit far north for that. Best way to Iceland's to find a merchant ship in Hedeby.”

”We know, we were just there – and we heard a rumour saying that King Sweyn's going to fight a battle soon, and we thought ”Hey. Might as well go have an extra adventure to tell about when we get home!” You know how it is, right?”

”Sure,” the guard laughs. ”Come on in. We can always use a few extra backs in the shield wall.” He turns and shouts something, and the gate starts to open.

”This is terrible,” Amaya comments as they enter. ”I realize that allowances have to be made, but this is amateurish. Have they no safety protocols? We might be spies!”

”What'd you expect?” Mick grumbles. ”For them to run our fingerprints? They're Vikings, not the Feds.”

Amaya looks at him, slightly uncomprehending, then shrugs. “Huh.”

The guard joins them inside, grinning and offering his hand.

”Hello and welcome to Fyrkat. I'm Tjalfe. Now, let's find a spot in one of the longhouses for your things and your” - he pauses, taking in the sight of an armed and armored Sara for a moment - ”some of your women, and then we'll find Earl Ulf, let him know we've got a few extra warriors for the battle.”

They walk through Fyrkat. Inside the circular earthen walls, the fort is divided into four squares, each encircled by longhouses. In the squares and in the other open areas men are training for battle, while women and thralls are walking back and forth on various errands.

They leave their things as well as Lisa, Amaya and Stein in a longhouse and are guided to where Earl Ulf is overseeing battle training. He's an older, grizzled viking with an army sergeant vibe, and a small silver cross dangling from a leather strap around his neck.

”What do you bring me, Tjalfe?”

”Volunteers!”

”Any good?”

”Yes,” Sara states. ”We are.”

”Guess we'll see about that, Shieldmaiden,” Ulf states.

He proceeds to put the four of them – Sara, Mick, Ray and Jax – through their paces in a brief montage scene.

They are taking a break, gulping down some much needed water, when there's a small commotion by the gates. They open and a woman in a blue dress carrying a staff and followed by a girl perhaps a couple of years younger than Jax enter. A tall man in a blue cloak comes out of one of the longhouses and greets them, bowing to the woman in the blue dress.

”Who is that?” Ray asks.

”That's King Sweyn himself,” Ulf answers.

”And the women?” Jax asks.

”Unless I'm mistaken, that'd be Adisla the Völva and her apprentice. King Sweyn sent for her. She’s a great seeress and known as one of the finest seidr singers in the land.”

**CUT SCENE to inside a longhouse that evening.**

”Now we know for sure that King Sweyn is actually here, we can move on with the plan,” Sara comments in a low voice to the rest, sitting or – in Mick's case – lounging on the fur covered benches lining the sides of the longhouse.

”Which I am sure you'll see fit to remind us of one more time,” Stein comments.

”Yes, because it's important. Mick, Jax, Ray – the four of us are going to do our damnedest to impress Ulf and earn a spot close to the king in the upcoming battle. Meanwhile, Lisa and Amaya will try to infiltrate the king's household, make sure that we'll have fast access to him if need be.”

”And I,” Stein sighs, longsuffering, ”shall endeavour to play the part of Steini the Elderly Merchant who really has no business being in this place. I would have been more useful aboard the Waverider.”

”You're just grumpy because you had to wear contacts. Besides, we'll need you and Ray to work on figuring out what sort of technology that magical axe might have. I want you two to sit down with Mick when there's time and brainstorm.”

”I hardly think Mr. Rory...”

”Well,” Ray interrupts. ”He _is_ the only one of us that's even seen the thing. Hey, Mick, could you describe...”

But Mick's turned his back to them and has fallen asleep.

”Oh. Guess it's been a long day. You know what, guys? I think Mick's got the right idea.” Ray barely remembers to get out of his chainmail before lying down on the bench next to Mick and falling asleep.

**CUT SCENE to a montage of the following few days in Fyrkat.**

We follow the legends – Mick, Jax, Sara and Ray practicing with swords and axes. Mick and Sara excel at it, while Ray soon develops a tendency to drift off mid practice and go help out in the smithy instead, interestedly chatting with the smiths about alloys.

Meanwhile, we see Lisa and Amaya making friends with Sweyn's sisters and their ladies, who have been travelling with their brother. Lisa and Amaya are carrying on a bit of one-up-man-ship along the way – Lisa clearly knows how to play a con and ingratiate herself with potential marks, but Amaya wins points by teaching the Norse ladies to weave a traditional Zambezi pattern. At other times, we sees Stein studying a not particularly good drawing off an axe, clearly being less than happy with his allotted task. Occasionally, he'll pause and rub his forehead as if he's got a headache.

Fairly early on we see Jax practicing and Ulf watching him, frowning and then taking him aside for a chat, followed by:

**CUT SCENE to Jax sitting with his back against a rock next to a well, idly throwing small stones and looking unhappy.**

”Did you eat a rowan berry by mistake?” GUNLØD – the Völva's apprentice -  asks from behind him.

Jax turns around and looks up at her, raising a hand to ward off the sun. ”I'm sorry?”

”Well, you look so grumpy, I thought you might have. I mean, it's a beautiful day. Why the long face?”

”Coach benched me,” Jax grumbles, crossing his arms and not noticing he's using Football terms.

”Benched?”

”Oh, sorry. Uhm – I got this injury in my knee from a few years ago. I thought it had gotten better, but Earl Ulf said that it'd be best if I sat this one out. He said I might do fine in a duel or something like that, but I'd just be a liability when it came to scrimma... - I mean, when it came to the shield wall.”

”I'm sorry to hear that. I know it's important for a warrior to make a good impression on the Earl. But look on the bright side!” and she gets to her feet and offers Jax a hand up.

”Which is?” he asks, finding himself smiling back and letting her help him to his feet.

”Well, since you're not going to be training with the warriors, you're free to help me with my chores. Like, say, getting some water out of this well,” and she offers him the bucket she's been carrying with a grin.

**WE RETURN TO THE GENERAL LIFE IN FYRKAT MONTAGE – except now we also see small glimpses of Jax following Gunlød around the camp, helping her with various chores.**

**CUT SCENE – inside the longhouse, very early in the morning.**

Stein is tossing and turning in his sleep, and we see flashes of his dreams, images of a young, brunette woman smiling at him. They're the sort of images that ought to be happy, and yet Stein is clearly not experiencing them as pleasant dreams.

He suddenly sits up, awake and blinking frantically, automatically reaching for his glasses before remembering that they are left behind on the Waverider.

He tries to go back to sleep, but is visible annoyed by his fellow legends – several of whom are snoring – and the rest of the people in the longhouse. Eventually, he gives up, gets up and goes outside.

”Lovely morning, isn't it?” ADISLA says. She's coming from the direction of one of the gates and is carrying a basket full of plants.

”I suppose,” Stein says, rubbing his forehead. ”I mean, good morning, Madam.”

Adisla looks at him for a moment, frowning.

”You look like you could use some nice herbal tea. Come.”

She leads him to the longhouse where she and Gunlød are staying – the same as the king's household – and into the walled off section that the völva has been assigned. (Gunlød is lying in the corner, wrapped in a blanket.) She gives Stein a wooden cup with a steaming liquid and, while visibly sceptical, he tries it and soon gives a relieved sigh.

”Feeling better, I take it?”

”Yes, I – thank you, Madam. This is – marvellous. My headache is quite gone.”

Adisla smiles, then sits down and starts sorting the plants from the basket.

”If I might be so bold – what are you doing up this early, Madam? Even your apprentice isn't up yet.”

”She should have been, the silly girl – but she was out doing the gods only know what with that foster son of yours until past sunset.”

”My – foster son?”

”That blue youth they say you adopted in Miklagård?”

”Oh, right, yes,” and Stein nods, remembering the cover story. ”Jax. My foster son.”

Adisla frowns at him, then – for a moment – stares at him intensely. Then she smiles, as if things are making a bit more sense to her now.

”Children are important – even if they come to us unlooked for. You are a fortunate man, to be a father.”

”Ah. Thank you, Madam.”

”All I've got is that apprentice of mine. She's a good girl, though – she's gotten a bit flighty as of late, but that's youth for you. Still – let her sleep. It's going to be a long day and there'll be precious little time to sleep tomorrow night.”

”How so?”

”Did you not hear? The beacons have been lit, telling of King Harald's return. King Sweyn expects to take his men and head out first thing tomorrow morning to face him. That's why I was out this early to collect herbs. I've been asked to prophesy this evening, and some of the herbs needed for that should preferably be fresh.”

**CUT SCENE to all the legends standing in a small group behind the smithy.**

”So – we've all got excuses to go along to the battle tomorrow. Lisa and Amaya, you stick with the king's household. Jax and Stein – you stay with Adisla and Gunlød. Make sure to stay close together. If worst comes to worst, we'll just have to risk Firestorm.”

”And what about the rest of you?” Jax asks.

”Mick and I have impressed Earl Ulf enough that we're getting spots in the first line of the shield wall, close to the king. We'll be keeping an eye out for him in battle and try to take down the guy with the magic axe. And Ray – did you and Stein figure out anything useful about that axe?”

”Unfortunately not. Mick never saw it up close, so his descriptions weren't much help.”

”Well – you'll be in the shield wall too, just a couple of rows behind. So – try to get close to the guy with the axe, see if you can get a good look. We'll be wearing coms, so – let us know anything you figure out, okay?”

”Okay,” Ray answers, nodding. The rest disperse, leaving him standing by the smithy.

”I mean, okay;” he says, mostly to himself. ”Just get close to the big viking warrior with the future axe, while dragging around 40 pounds of chainmail and having an entire viking army trying to kill you,” and he looks to where Mick's gone up to a bunch of huge Viking warriors and has apparently said something funny, earning him claps on the shoulder before getting invited to train with them.

”No big deal. I mean, it's not like they're T.Rexes or something like that.”

Turning his back on the sight of Mick and his buddies, his hand unconsciously reaches up to pat his chest, and whatever he feels there seems to cheer him up a bit.

”Right. No big deal.”

**CUT SCENE to Adisla's room.**

Stein is sitting on the bench by the side of the house. He looks like he's been napping.

Meanwhile, Adisla and Gunlød are working around the fire, chopping herbs and chanting under their breath and stirring things in.

Adisla seems stressed. She hasn't prophesied for a king before, and everything needs to be perfect. Sadly, Gunlød is equally nervous, and a lot less experienced. After the third time Adisla has to stop her from putting the wrong herbs in the pot, she tells her to get out, a bit ungently.

”You don't think you were a bit hard on the girl?” Stein asks after a few minutes.

Adisla sighs. ”Yes. I probably was. I just – I don't know. I've been having this feeling of unease for days now. I've tried casting runes, I've tried calming teas – nothing helps. Besides,” and she looks up from her work to offer Stein a smirk, ”if I'm not mistaken, she'll be running straight out to find your Jax. Let them have that one last carefree day.”

”Madam?”

”Well, it will be, won't it? She and I are travellers. We've only stayed this long because of the upcoming battle. And from what I understand, your group will be heading home to – was it Iceland you came from? Or someplace further away? Anyway – after tomorrow, it'll be a time of leave-taking, one way or the other. Let them have today. I can manage this brewing better on my own anyway.

**CUT SCENE to Gunlød and Jax meeting by a cherry tree a bit outside the fortress' gates.**

Gunlød walks up to where Jax is sitting, his back against the tree, and slumps down next to him, dejectedly.

”Hey! What's the matter?”

”Adisla kicked me out after I nearly put too much henbane in her potion for tonight. I could have killed her! I'm going to be a terrible völva! I don't know why she puts up with me!”

”That's nonsense. You're going to be a great – a great sorceress. You know so much – the way you've been telling me about all those plants I've been helping you gather, what they're good for.”

”But Adisla knows so much more. Compared to hers, even my seidr is terrible.”

”I know how you feel. Grey always makes me feel like I'm nowhere near as smart as him. I mean – I am nowhere near as smart, but – I'm nowhere near as smart as Ray either, but he never makes me feel dumb the same way.”

”You're not dumb, Jax!”

”And neither are you! That's just how they make us feel, because they're older and think they’re smarter. I bet your seidr is awesome!”

”No, it's awful. Here, let me show you:”

Gunlød reaches out and takes Jax's hand, twining their fingers together. Then she closes her eyes and starts humming, low and throaty, some sort of unearthly tune.

Their entwined hands catch fire.

Jax yelp and lets go of Gunlød, backpedaling and shaking his hand – even after at least a year of being Firestorm, he hasn't quite gotten rid of that instinctual fear when he and Stein aren't merged. But the fire keeps clinging to his hand and he stops shaking it when he realizes that the fire is doing him no harm. It's not even warm.

”See. Silly illusions, that's most of what I've got in me. Adisla can sing up a storm or turn the tides of a battle the way a proper völva can. Me? I can't even make a convincing illusion of flames.”

**CUT SCENE to that evening in Fyrkat**

Roast pigs are turning on spits, barrels of mead have been dragged out. The warriors are having a party in anticipation of the coming battle. Mick especially has joined wholeheartedly – quaffing mead and arm wrestling with his new buddies.

A beautifully carved wooden chair has been carried outside, and Adisla is sitting on it, rocking back and forth to a song sung by Gunlød.

One by one, people walk up to her and kneel, and she speaks to them, though all we hear is Gunlød's song, quiet and mystical and calling.

Eventually, King Sweyn himself steps forward and kneels, and Adisla takes his hands and looks deep into his eyes.

”The troll-woman of battle seeks you, oh young King, the wolf of wounds slavers for blood!” she chants. Abruptly she stands, eyes blown wide and she screams, for a moment drowning the noises of the party. Then she falls forward, fainting straight into the king's arms.

**CUT SCENE to next morning as King Sweyn's army leaves Fyrkat.**

Jax and Stein is travelling in a small cart with Gunlød and Adisla.

”Is she okay to be going?” Jax asks Gunlød, who is sitting next to him up front and holding the reins of the horse.

”She insists that she's just fine, she'd just left the herbal potion on the fire for a bit too long. Besides,  it is an ill omen for the prophetess to pass out like that, and her coming along might lessen the harm.”

**CUT SCENE to another part of the army.**

Ray is marching – sweating in those 40 pounds of chainmail, though he left his fur behind – next to Mick and Sara.

”They say that King Harald's men have landed near the fjord of Aarhus! You know what that means? Finally something's going to actually look properly Viking!”

**CAMERA FOCUSES ON RAY'S EXCITED FACE, THEN PULLS BACK AS TIME HAS FAST-FORWARDED AND THEY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE BAY OF AARHUS.**

Ray get's his first look at the flat, undramatic area around the bay, and the narrow strip of land that leads to the promontory of Helgenæs.

Ray: ”Damnit!”

Mick and Sara snigger at him, as does Lisa and Amaya from where they are sitting in a cart with the royal household.

The camera pulls back and we get our first proper look at the two viking armies – the army King Sweyn is leading down towards the narrow strip of land connecting Helgenæs with the mainland, and the army of fierce Jomsvikings that have set up camp right on the other side of said strip.

The camera zooms back in to find the armies arrayed. Mick and Sara are standing in the first line of the shield wall, occasionally glancing at the king. A couple of rows behind them are a visibly nervous Ray, occasionally reminding himself ”At least they're not T.Rexes” and taking comfort in patting his hidden pocket.

And then, at some unseen signal, the two armies start moving towards one another, and battle is joined. After some shoving back and forth the shield walls pretty much come apart and the fighting devolves into a free for all.

The battle noise fades as a song starts up.

”The web is warped / with warriors' guts. / The warp is weighted / with heavy heads. / Bloody spears / support the loom. / With iron-shod shuttle / with arrows for beaters / and swords for stiffeners / we shape our weaving.”

As the song covers the landscape, we see the armies clashing – and we see, again and again, King Sweyn's men fighting and winning, killing and maiming their enemies. We see Sara dancing like a true assassin, we see Mick leaning forward and charging at the enemy like a bull, leaving his horned helmet embedded in the guy's chest when he pulls back, we even see Ray duelling with an enemy.

And the camera pulls back, revealing the source of the song – Adisla, standing on a small hill, overseeing the battlefield and singing a magic song. Gunlød, Jax and Stein are standing a few steps behind her.

Then, suddenly, as she starts a new verse - ”We weave, we weave / the web of spears / where brave banners / of warriors are waving” - the enemy ranks part and a huge Jomsviking warrior steps forward, armed with what is obviously the magical axe.

It's huge, like something out of a video game, and he sweeps it through the lines of his enemies, mowing them down like grass. There's a multi-faceted gem, attached to the top of the axe, pulsing brightly – changing from blue to red to blue again.

Sara spots the man and charges, but is forced to dodge one of the violent swings of his axe and then intercepted by a couple of other Jomsvikings. Mick also attacks, only to meet a similar fate.

And then the man points his axe straight at Adisla, and from the gem at its top a beam of light appears, a laser, and it hits her straight on.

She crumbles, the song stopping mid-word.

”Adisla!” Gunlød, Jax and Stein all hurry to her side, but there's nothing to do. The laser has burned a hole straight through the völva. She's dead.

On the battlefield, King Sweyn steps forward to meet the huge Jomsviking with the axe in battle. They trade blows and it's soon clear that Sweyn is at a severe disadvantage. Mick and Sara try to get close to the battle, without any luck, and we see Amaya standing on another small hill nearby, clearly itching to join the fight, hands reaching for a totem that isn't there.

”Gunlød!” Jax shouts, kneeling next to the crying girl.

”Jax! We need to become Firestorm! The plan isn't working!”

”No! Not yet! Gunlød, listen to me! Listen! You need to get up and sing! You can't help Adisla now, but you can help everybody else! You're the only one who can!”

”Jax, stop talking nonsense. We need to merge now, before it's too late!”

”It's no use, Jax! I'm not good enough! I'm nowhere near as good as Adisla!”

”Gunlød! You're all we have! I know you can do this! Please, just – try? For me?”

Gunlød lets herself be drawn to her feet, away from Adisla's body, and looks at the battlefield, where King Sweyn's fight against the Jomsviking is still going on – barely. He's been driven to his knees and is barely holding that axe off.

She swallows, then gets a determined look on her face – and she takes a step forward, picks up her teacher's staff from where it's fallen, and sings:

”Let us not let / his life be lost! / Valkyries decide / who dies and who lives.”

Perhaps the song really is magic. Perhaps it is simply that Gunlød's voice, clear and loud, distracts the Jomsviking at a fatal moment. Either way, from somewhere, King Sweyn manages to draw a bright dagger and exploits that moment of distraction to plunge it into his enemy's vital parts from below.

And just like the tide of battle turns once more, King Sweyn's men chasing the Jomsvikings off the beach, taking great delight in aiming arrows and swords at certain bodyparts conveniently exposed by the enemy turning their backs on them in an effort to get out to the boats waiting for them off the shore.

The song falls quiet once more, but this time, it's replaced with a great and victorious cheer.

Completely drowning out the crying of one young girl, collapsed next to her mentor's dead body.

**CUT SCENE to the Waverider's bridge.**

Lisa strolls aboard, the ”magical” axe slung casually across her shoulder.

”Like stealing candy from a baby,” she says, handing the weapon to Ray. ”Especially considering how drunk the whole lot of them are. It was barely a challenge.”

”Good. Any ideas where they got this gizmo?” Sara asks the room at large.

”They must have found a crashed time pirate ship? Where else would a bunch of savages like these Jomsvikings have gotten their hands on something like this?” Stein comments.

Mick says: ”Hate to disagree with you, Professor – oh, who am I kidding? I love to disagree with you! - but I just had a chat with my new buddy Grim, who was all grumpy, because he had to help guard the prisoners and hadn't had a drink yet. Anyway, he says the captives insist that that axe was a gift from the gods.”

”Preposterous!” Stein exclaims.

”From Loki. Who showed in the middle of their camp, laughing like a fucking lunatic, and handed that axe to the nearest warrior before vanishing in a burst of lightning. Sound like anyone we now?”

”Thawne!” Amaya's the first to make the connection. ”He was here!”

”But why would Thawne give a weapon from the future to a bunch of wretched barbarians?” Stein wonders.

”Doesn't matter;” Ray replies. ”But that axe has to come from somewhere – and wherever that is, we know one thing about it!”

”Thawne has been there at some point! Gideon!”

”Yes, Captain Lance.”

”Can you analyze this axe, figure out what time period it's from?”

”Certainly.”

”Good. And the aberration?”

”The timeline has been restored to its usual flow.”

”Excellent. Guess we're all done here, guys, so strap in and...”

”Hey, guys?” Jax interrupts. ”There's something I need to take care of before we go.”

**CUT SCENE to outside Fyrkat. It's raining.**

A small procession is walking towards a viking style graveyard. In front is a small cart, Adisla's body in it, dressed in her fine, blue dress, and Gunlød leading the horse drawing it. King Sweyn, Stein and Jax walk right behind the cart, with various others following further behind, including the most of the rest of the legends.

The mood is somber.

Jax, King Sweyn and a few of the warriors lift it and put it into a grave. Gunlød steps forward and places the staff she's been carrying by her teacher's side. And then men and women step forward, carrying large rocks, until Adisla is buried beneath a small cairn.

Mick and Lisa have been watching the procession from a bit further away.

”Mick – can you take me to see my brother's grave?”

Mick doesn't answer. He's fiddling with the ring hanging around his neck, though he doesn't seem aware of doing so.

”Mick?”

”Yeah.”

”Lenny's grave?”

”He doesn't really have one. There wasn't enough left to bury.”

”So? People who are lost at sea still get graves? Funerals? How would this be any different?”

”Everything was a bit – confusing back then, between the Time Masters and Savage and everything. We didn't really have time for a proper funeral right then.”

”Well, surely there's been time later? I mean, you have a time ship. Out of everybody in the entire world, you can take the time!”

”It just – we never really got around to it.”

”Mick Rory! Are you telling me that my brother – my stupid, jerk brother – died for the world and this bunch of morons and they didn't even give him a wake?”

Mick's silence is all the answer she gets, and she whirls around and starts storming off in a line directly towards Sara.

”I roasted Savage in his honour?” Mick calls after her.

”Not! Good! Enough!”

**CUT SCENE to Mick, still in viking clothes, lighting a big bonfire with his heat gun.**

The legends are assembled by the shore of the lake close to Fyrkat, sitting in a semi-circle around one side of the bonfire. It's too big to sit all the way around or even particularly close to it.

Mick's the only one standing. He puts the heat gun down, then he knocks open a barrel of mead and starts dipping the small pile of drinking horns in it and handing them out.

”If we're gonna do this,” he says as he himself sinks down on the grass to watch his fire, ”I'm going to need a drink:”

Then he empties his horn.

”Hear, hear, ” Sara raises her horn and does likewise.

”Come on, guys!” Ray tries. ”We're supposed to be remembering Snart here!” He climbs to his feet. ”Leonard Snart was a criminal. A thief. But he died a hero! He died saving our lives and the entire world!”

”Well – tell me about that, then. Tell me the story of how my brother died.”

And so they begin … the scene cuts from legend to legend, eventually encompassing Lisa – as they take turns telling the story of Leonard Snart, his death and his life, in no particular order, as the horns get refilled and emptied again and again.

Sara: ”lent me the parka off his back. He always made these awful jokes about abhorring the heat, but still – we were literally freezing to death and”

Jax: ”all thought that he'd killed Mick and then”

Mick: ”just a scrawny little kid”

Lisa: ”can't remember a time when he wasn't there”

Ray: ”almost looked like he wanted to murder me then and there. Which is kinda funny, considering”

Eventually everybody except Mick and Lisa have fallen asleep. Mick gets up to get himself one last horn of mead, and as he turns back, he stops. In front of him, back half turned, is LEONARD SNART, looking sadly at where his sister sits, her back to the both of them.

Mick freezes, rubs at his eyes in disbelief, then gulps down the entire hornful of mead. When he lowers it, Len is gone again, as if he was never there.

Mick goes back and sinks down next to Lisa.

”What's the matter, Mickey? You look like you've seen a ghost.”

**CUT SCENE to the next morning.**

Jax and Gunlød are standing outside the gates of Fyrkat. She's dressed as she was the first time we saw her, in clothing suitable for travel.

”So, what are you going to do now?”

”Continue my teacher's work, I suppose. There aren't quite as many of us völvas as there once was, but we are still needed. We were expected at the Earl's hall at Lindholm when King Sweyn's messenger found us. I'll start there. And how about you, Jax? Will you be staying with King Sweyn's warriors or go back to Iceland?”

”Iceland. Back to – yeah. We need to get going, actually. So – so I guess this is goodbye, huh?”

”I suppose so.”

Slowly, a little hesitantly, they kiss goodbye.

Mid-kiss, Gunlød's eyes fly open. They are completely black, pupils wider than humanly possible, and in their depths the time stream itself seems to whirl.

”Gunlød?”

”You will find what you seek, Jax Far-Travelled. The Lie-Smith awaits you in the Halls of Skuld, the Sly One holds the remnants of the corpse-herring where Hræsvælgr dwells.”

Gunlød falls silent, blinking, her eyes turning normal as the moment of prophecy fades.

**CUT SCENE to the Waverider's bridge.**

Everybody's back in their normal clothes and strapping in, preparing for a time jump.

”So – does anybody _else_ have something we need to do before leaving the Viking Age?” Sara asks. ”No? Good. Gideon?”

”Yes, Captain Lance?”

”Have you figured out where that axe came from yet?”

”Yes, Captain. My scan of the axe revealed a warranty chip embedded in the handle of the axe. According to the information on the chip, it was purchased in a shop in Chicago in the year 2070 AD.”

”So,” and Ray begins to grin, ”I guess that means we'll be going” - artistic pause, wherein Jax has time to say ”Ray. Please don't.” - ”back to the future!” as Ray does his best Doc Brown impression.

It's not very good.

Everybody groans, except Amaya, who sadly has never seen those movies.

**END CREDITS**


	2. Fan art

[see on tumblr here](http://kickingshoes.tumblr.com/post/165119112187/art-for-the-fifth-lotrewrite-written-by)

Kickingshoes' tarot card for Episode 5 - they've created a full set of Major Arcana based on the episodes! See more of their art [here](http://kickingshoes.tumblr.com/tagged/our-art)!

**Author's Note:**

> The lyrics of Adisla the Völva's song during the battle scene is taken from the Old Norse poem _Darraðarljóð_ , specifically the translation which appears in the book "Old Norse Women's Poetry: the Voices of Female Skalds" by Sandra Ballif Straubhaar.


End file.
